Following on from the superb 2001 assortment from La Rioja Alta offered a few weeks ago, I am pleased to offer a stunning mini-assortment from CVNE - a special wooden case containing 1 bottle each of the 2009, 2010 and 2011 Imperial Gran Reserva that have been stored in the cellars of the bodega until now. Each bottle has 'Family Cellar Release 2026' written on the label, as per the photo below.
If you prefer a younger vintage, we have stock of the greatest recent vintage, 2018 (95+ WA), and if you prefer it more mature, the last few cases of the superb 1988 - click the Buy C.V.N.E. Wines Online button.
Vintage 2009: A long, dry summer resulted in a vintage that arrived slightly ahead of the long-term average harvest date with water stress alleviated by much needed rain falling in mid-September. Quality was excellent, with alcoholic and phenolic ripeness in balance with one another.
Vintage 2010: The 2010 growing season possessed all the attributes required for an excellent vintage. Heavy rainfall during the 2009/2010 winter provided ample water for the vines’ roots to access throughout the warm, dry growing season. These conditions encouraged slow, even ripening, kept the vineyards in pristine health and helped to produce high-quality fruit.
Vintage 2011: A vintage that called on the lived experience and intuition of the C.V.N.E. viticultural team. In many ways 2011 was an atypical vintage, with water stress and a narrow diurnal range contributing to uneven ripening throughout the Imperial vineyards. Thanks to careful vineyard management, the grapes were in excellent health at harvest. Despite the harvest arriving a week ahead of the long-term average, the wines bear the hallmarks of deep concentration and elegant structure that the Imperial name demands.
CVNE Imperial Gran Reserva Family Cellar Release 2026, Rioja
1 bt each 2009, 2010, 2011, 3x750ml
£180.00 In Bond
Imperial Gran Reserva 2009
“This shows plenty of fruit, with tobacco leaf, dark fruit and subtle spices with a vermouth-like nuance. Very elegant, medium- to full-bodied, leaning more toward medium, with precise fruit and powdery fine tannins. Beginning to show some evolution, elegant yet with a firm structure. Drink or hold.”
95 points, Jacobo García Andrade, James Suckling, Jul 2026
“Aromatically bursting with red fruits, this is very perfumed, full flavoured wine with notes of cranberries. It is a mouthwatering, confident wine that will last a long time.”
95 points, Sarah Jane Evans, Decanter, Mar 2018
“Deep, bright ruby. Highly complex, expansive scents of ripe dark berries, cherry pie, mocha, pipe tobacco and vanilla, with a smoky overtone. Sweet, deep blackberry and floral pastille flavors are complicated by notes of spicecake and bitter chocolate, showing unlikely vivacity on the back half. This ripe and rich but elegant Rioja combines finishes supple, smoky and very long, with velvety tannins making a late appearance to add grip.”
94 points, Josh Raynolds, Vinous, Nov 2015
“The 2009 Imperial Gran Reserva, the textbook blend of Tempranillo with 15% Graciano and Mazuelo, is fermented in oak vats with malo in barrels (part did it in cement) where it matured for two years and the bottles rested in their caves for no less than three years before being released. In this ripe and approachable vintage the wine is soft and round, showing the classical aromas inherited for the American oak along with very balsamic notes of incense, cigar ash, old furniture and good, ripe black fruit in the background. The palate shows more abundant tannins, slightly grainy in nature and an ending that is quite dry. I would wait on this one, but it should develop nicely in bottle. 50,000 bottles produced.”
93 points, Luis Gutierrez, Wine Advocate, Apr 2015
Imperial Gran Reserva 2010
“This shows dark fruit with notes of tea and underbrush. Medium- to full-bodied, with an elegant, almost ethereal sense of fruit and clear definition. Framed by fine-grained tannins that are firm yet well integrated. Enjoyable now but with a long life ahead. Drink or hold.”
96 points, Jacobo García Andrade, James Suckling, Jul 2026
“Old vine parcels in Briones and Villalba provide the fruit for this exceptional blend of Tempranillo with 10% Graciano and 5% Mazuelo. This is a wine to drink now or, better still, cellar for a decade or more: sweet oak, black fruits, Asian spices and remarkable focus and freshness. Great value, too.”
97 points, Tim Atkin, Tim Atkin, Jan 2017
“Certain wines exude a sense of elevated excellence. This one gets to that level via aromas of spice cake, baked plum and tobacco aromas. A stocky saturated palate is structured and built to age, while this tastes of cool blue fruits, herbs, coffee and chocolate. A smoothly textured finish deals cocoa and mocha notes. Drink through 2040.”
95 points, Wine Enthusiast, Jun 2016
“We're in for a treat with the 2010 Imperial Gran Reserva, a classic among classics in a classic vintage. It's very spicy and still slightly oaky, with ripe fruit without any excess; it is a serious, somehow Bordeaux-like, less-perfumed red. The palate shows that seriousness, with some dusty tannins and a dry finish. The texture is a little earthy, very good for food. This could be drunk now, but I'd give it some time in the bottle. The oak feels very nicely integrated, less noticeable than in warmer vintages like 2009. A very good vintage for this bottling. The category that was close to disappearing ten years ago seems to be alive and kicking with 50,000 bottles produced in 2010.”
94 points, Luis Gutierrez, Wine Advocate, Jun 2016
“(aged for three years in American and French oak and then held back for four years before release) Vivid ruby-red. Smoky oak-accented red berries, cherry pit, incense and mocha aromas show outstanding clarity and vivacity. Sweet, expansive, palate-staining raspberry, cherry pie, vanilla and floral pastille flavors fan out steadily on the back half. The smoky note reemerges on an impressively long, floral- and spice-driven finish that's given shape by supple, harmonious tannins. In the context of world-class Spanish wines, which this one is, there's truly outstanding value here.”
94 points, Josh Raynolds, Vinous, May 2017
“A masculine, decadent nose with youthful fruit and nutty character. The palate is juicy and intriguing, with a complex savoury structure, perfumed violet and black cherry notes.”
Gold, Decanter World Wine Awards, 2017
Imperial Gran Reserva 2011
“This shows blackberries with some tobacco showing subtle evolution. Medium- to full-bodied, still coming together with a particular brightness in the acidity that complements the dark fruit and discreet earthy notes. Compared with the more structured 2010, this is more approachable yet should evolve nicely, maintaining its elegance. A blend of mostly tempranillo with graciano and mazuelo. Drink or hold.”
96 points, Jacobo García Andrade, James Suckling, Jul 2026
“This is a fabulous gran reserva from a very good but lightly heralded vintage. Aromas of spiced plum, black olive, fig, tobacco and cassis come together like a puzzle. A deep, pure palate shows near-perfect balance, while this tastes of plum, berry fruits and earthy spice. Smooth, elegant and chocolaty on the finish, this delivers all one can ask for from Rioja”
97 points & 5th in Top 100, Wine Enthusiast, Nov 2019
“Almost as good as the 2010 - and that’s saying a lot - this is the latest in a series of brilliant Imperial Gran Reservas: serious, dense and showing old vine concentration, with sweet liquorice, blackberry and bramble flavours, a lick of oak and chalky intensity.”
96 points, Tim Atkin, Tim Atkin, Jan 2018
“Vivid ruby-red. Highly perfumed aromas of red fruit liqueur, candied flowers, vanilla and incense; spicecake, vanilla and smoky mineral flourishes emerge with air. Palate-staining raspberry, cherry-vanilla and rose pastille flavors display excellent depth and energy, and a spine of juicy acidity provides added lift and back-end cut. Melds richness and vivacity with a sure hand and finishes with lingering sweetness, fine-grained tannins and a touch of smokiness.”
94 points, Josh Raynolds, Vinous, Feb 2019
“I'm always looking forward to tasting CVNE's Gran Reserva bottlings, especially the 2011 Imperial Gran Reserva, as the year was highly praised, and I was very curious to see how it behaved. It's a classical blend of Tempranillo with 10% Graciano and 5% Mazuelo that matured in barrel for two years. It has good depth and complexity in the nose, nicely layered, very balsamic and tertiary. It feels elegant and harmonious. The palate is surprisingly fresh and vibrant, with finesse, freshness, fine and mostly resolved tannins and a fine thread of acidity that holds and lifts up the finish. 50,000 bottles were filled in June 2014.”
93+ points, Luis Gutierrez, Wine Advocate, Feb 2018
Gold, International Wine Challenge, 2018
Gold & Rioja Gran Reserva Trophy, International Wine Challenge, May 2019
C.V.N.E., or Compañía Vinícola del Norte de España (the Northern Spanish Wine Company), was founded by two brothers in Haro in 1879. Today the business remains in the hands of the founding family and comprises eight wineries across Northern Spain: Cune, Imperial, Viña Real and Contino in Rioja; Roger Goulart in Cava; Bela in Ribera del Duero; Virgen del Galir in Valdeorras; and La Val in Rías Baixas.
The Imperial winery is a small and unique artisanal cellar within the original C.V.N.E. facility in Haro. For over one hundred years, Imperial has been considered one of Spain’s finest wines and is only produced in years of exceptional harvests. The winery’s flagship wine (the 2004 vintage) was named Wine Spectator’s Wine of the Year in 2013, the first Spanish wine to receive this accolade.
Imperial takes its name from a special bottling run for the English market, originally bottled in Imperial Pint bottles. Today the range is bottled in traditional Bordeaux-style bottles, setting it apart stylistically from the Viña Real range, which uses Burgundy bottles. Inside the winery, French oak vats of different capacities are used, with rigorous quality controls and artisanal techniques applied to each plot. Barrels are aged inside the historic Eiffel cellar, built in 1909.
Imperial wines are only produced in vintages with exceptional conditions, capturing the essence of their terroir and the meticulous care of Rioja Alta vineyards. They have a distinctive style: refined, precise and powerful. Spain’s iconic wine. A quintessential Rioja wine.
Imperial Gran Reserva is a wine of selection, beginning with the very best vineyards. These 40-year-old bush-trained, dry-farmed vines produce low yields and exceptional fruit. Grapes are hand-harvested, carefully sorted, and only the best barrels are chosen for the final blend — a process overseen by the highly respected Technical Director, María Larrea, who has been with C.V.N.E. since 1991.
The Imperial Gran Reserva was crafted with meticulous attention to detail, starting with hand-harvested grapes collected in small crates. After a rigorous double selection, whole bunches were chilled to preserve freshness, then gently crushed and gravity-fed into wooden vats. Cold maceration preceded fermentation with indigenous yeasts at controlled temperatures. Malolactic fermentation took place in concrete tanks, followed by ageing in oak barrels — 80% French and 20% American — with rackings every eight months, before extended bottle ageing in the century-old cellars.
C.V.N.E. has vintages of Imperial dating back to 1917. In their philosophy, for a wine to be great, it must be able to age. Imperial wines are consistent vintage after vintage: elegant, balanced, and delicate, with high acidity and lengthy barrel ageing preparing them to evolve gracefully for decades.
Imperial has graced landmark occasions, including being the only red wine served at the 2004 royal wedding of the then Crown Prince Felipe (now King Felipe VI), when Imperial Gran Reserva 1994 was poured.
- Ready in early December 2026 - perfect for Christmas!
- Offered subject to final confirmation, E&OE
- Free delivery on orders over £600 ex vat, otherwise charged at cost.
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